The Yanks are in for a fight these last two months of the season and I suppose that’s how it should be. Let’s see if they’ve got enough grit and good fortune to get their asses to the ALDS. Brian Cashman held on to his prized young talent as the trade deadline came and went.

Last night, our boys beat the bejesus out of the White Sox in Chicago by the tune of 13-6, thank you very much. Mark Teixeira hit a grand slam early and then one later. Alex was 2-2 with 3 walks and 4 runs scored. Brendan Ryan and Carlos Beltran had 3 hits, Chase Headley, John Ryan Murphy, and Chris Murphy Young (everyone wants to be a Murphy sometime in their lives) all had 2.

Got to love baseball. Riding high on Tuesday, dumpsville come Thursday. Not only did the Yanks blow a winnable game last night in Texas–about which the less said the better far as I’m concerned–Michael Pineda is hurt, and the Blue Jays got David Price–to go with Tulo.

The talk now is that they are making a push for Craig Kimbrel or Aroldis Chapman which is certainly interesting, and indicates the Yanks are aiming for a killer bullpen and not an expensive starter (I’d guess that Adam Warren would go back to the rotation should a trade go through).

Sorry Yankee fans, I should have realized no team is above superstition. Tanaka was in trouble for his entire outing and did his best to keep the game in reach, but the Yankees didn’t have the wingspan in this one and lost 5-2. Beyond the box score, the Rangers made the big news of the night acquiring Cole Hamels for some shiny prospects and Matt Harrison.

After jumping out to a 2-0 lead and showing signs that the deluge of runs from the previous night was no fluke, the tap ran dry. And that lead didn’t last long. Tanaka struggled in the second in a way we rarely see - at the mercy of the hitters.

The two key batters of the inning were Choo and De Shields and they both beat our guy. Choo smacked a drifting splitter, the second dead-fish splitter of the at-bat to tie the game and DeShields snagged the lead when he reached out for a 1-2 fastball off the plate. That one was tougher to swallow because it wasn’t a bad pitch. Probably needed to be elevated a little more.

Give the 2015 Yankees credit, their recent play suggested they could win this game right up until the end, even though they never really got it going again after the second. An easy loss to shake off as they can still take the series with a win Thursday.

As we rush to meet the trade deadline, the Yankees options are dwindling. I bet they make a major push for Price, but if the Dodgers want him, they have the better players to offer. So the Tigers will work the Dodgers up to the last minute and only turn to the Yankees if they come up empty-handed. I’ve always admired Price, so I hope he ends up a Yankee, but I don’t have my hopes up.

…and two more to go. The Yankees send Masahiro Tanaka to the bump tonight to extend their modest, but spectacular, four-game winning streak. His fly balls turn into homers with enough frequency that this could get dicey. He faces off against Colby Lewis, who never seems like much and the Yankees have handled pretty well throughout his career. So do we even need to reverse jinx this one? The 2015 Yankees have earned the benefit of the doubt in a game like this. Make it so, fellas.

And we cannot ignore the trade deadline. The Tigers just spiced things up by announcing they will be listening on David Price. This gives the Yankees a lot to consider in a short space. Between Cole Hamels and a decent contract for three years or David Price and no commitment after 2015 or just going with internal solutions, that’s a meeting I’d like to attend. Or at least get the jist of.

Once again: What the hell do I know? I figured the Yanks might take one on the chin last night. Chris Capuano did his part, bless him, giving up five runs in the first inning. The rest of the team didn’t get the memo. They scored 11 runs in the top of the second, 21 in the game. It was a gorging. Meanwhile, game ball goes to Diego Moreno, who relieved Cappy, and pitched 5.1 scoreless innings.

It’s fun when your team is winning, isn’t it? Even when they aren’t slick or efficient.

Last night, Didi Gregorious had a couple of big hits and made some nice plays in the field. He also had a base-running error and failed to tell Mark Teixeira to slide at home, to prove that he’s far from a polished product. Still, the Yanks will take it. Chase Headley continues to swing a hot bat, as does Teixeira (who was robbed of at least two hits), and Alex Rodriguez hit a solo home run on his 40th birthday.

Ivan Nova appeared to be tired but Chasen Shreve pitched two scoreless innings of relief, and Justin Wilson and Dellin Betances kept the Rangers off the board in the 8th and 9th. Annoyed to see Betances in there? I can relate. But that’s how it went down.

Nathan Eovaldi pitched well yesterday. The work-in-progress is progressing as he pitched into the 9th inning (never mind the final three outs were a chore, Dellin Betances eventually came in and reminded everyone that they aren’t so hard after all).

By then, Eovaldi had a plump lead. He didn’t strike out a lot of guys but got a couple of critical double play ground balls–including one lucky smash that was deftly picked by Didi Gregorious–to help him out of trouble. Chase Headley had the big knocks with some help from Garrett Jones and Stephen Drew.

You must forgive me for taking so long to get to last night’s happy recap. I think it’s just part of the deal when you’re in your 13th year of blogging. Some days the writing falls through the cracks. There are other commitments–other work, a wife, exercise, cooking–that get in the way. And that’s cool because I know you guys saw that game last night. Or if you missed it, I know you checked it out later, looking at the box score, videos, game recaps.

We all know it was one of those nights you get a handful of times each year–one to savor, one to remember. And it wasn’t just that Alex Rodriguez hit three home runs to keep his team in the game, he hit three absolute bombs. He crushed those balls, each well over 400 feet.

Course a natural reaction is to be suspicious. That’s the price all modern players have to pay, but especially a two-time loser like Rodriguez. And that’s just always going to be part of it for some people with him. I get that. But I’ve always enjoyed rooting for him so I feel as if this has been his most joyous season as a Yankee. Maybe he was really a good guy when he was really young with the Mariners too. But now, at the end (he’ll turn 40 tomorrow) he’s doing an Edgar Martinez impression and it’s a reminder that he is one of the great players. Total cheat, screwed up dude, but also great at baseball.

He’s got the day off today and so does the other hero, back-up catcher J.R. Murphy, who had the game winner. If Rodriguez’s home runs were no doubters, Murph’s looked like a long fly ball at first, good to get a run in from third, but then it just kept going and suddenly it had cleared that very high wall out there. Hilarious back-up catcher home run. He was amped like Tom Cruise in Taps when he got back to the dugout, too. That was pretty funny.

Now, let’s hope Sweet Nathan Eovaldi comes through with a big performance today. He’s got something to prove. Would’t be surprised if he tossed a dud, but I’ll be here rooting for him.